Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Friends of Prairie Grove Pound to step back some
PRAIRIE GROVE — The city will have a new part-time position to help with animal control next year as Friends of Prairie Grove Pound plans to take a step back from some of the work volunteers have done in the past.
Jim and Sharon Glover, along with Lesa Bement, started the Friends organization in 2012 and have put in countless hours during the past eight years. All three serve as officers.
Sharon Glover said Friends of Prairie Grove Pound will continue to raise money to pay veterinarian bills for animals in the pound and will continue to host its low-cost spay and neuter cat clinics.
However, she said the organization will not be responsible for maintenance at the animal pound, picking up and caring for animals at the pound or be in charge of finding foster homes for animals.
“We have a great bunch of volunteers,” Glover said, noting volunteers have done this work since 2012.
“For the first six years, Jim was out there every day,” she said.
The Glovers, along with other volunteers, have driven animals to rescues for adoptions and have fostered animals as the Friends tried to find forever homes for dogs and cats brought into the pound.
“The Glover household is pretty much a house of animals,” she said.
However, she said both are getting older and do not have the energy they once had and feel they need to step down from that type of volunteer work.
“It’s 24/7, 365 days a year literally and I mean literally,” Glover said. “There is no day off. We’re older and it’s getting harder and harder. We’ll continue to fund raise, but we can’t continue to go at the drop of the hat to pick up an animal and take it to the vet. It’s taking so much longer for us to recover.”
Glover said she approached the city about having a designated animal control officer. Ideally, Glover said she would like the city to hire a full-time animal control officer, but she asked if the city would at least have someone working part-time to clean the pound and assist the city with picking up animals and taking them to the vet.
She doesn’t expect someone to step in and volunteer the way she and her husband have, noting “You have to be all in for this.”
But at the same time, she wants the pound to continue with its reputation of taking care of animals in the area.
Glover said 2,500 animals have come into the city pound since she started keeping records about six or seven years ago. Friends was able to find the owners for about 40% of the animals and new homes for most of the others.
The Friends of Prairie Grove Pound started in 2012 with the goal to turn the city animal pound into a “No Kill” pound, Glover said. Since 2012, she said the pound has euthanized less than 1% of the animals, and these were animals with health problems or other major issues.
The pound’s mortality rate is less than 3% because sick animals are given vet care.
The Friends has sponsored building fund campaigns. The first one in 2015 brought in more than $20,000 to refurbish the pound building with the help of city labor to provide siding, a roof, insulation and heat and air. Friends of the Pound received other donations to build two 200-foot dog runs and to fence in the yard behind the pound.
The second building fund in 2019 raised $40,000 toward a standalone cat clinic. This didn’t work out but the money was used to convert onehalf of the city’s fire substation into a cat clinic for lowcost spay and neuter services.
Since 2016, the clinic has provided sterilization services for 3,000 cats, Glover said. The pound’s intake of cats has dropped about 50% over the years and Glover attributes that to the cat clinics.
The Friends will continue to raise funds to pay for the cat clinics and vet bills for animals brought into the pound. She said the average monthly cost is about $2,000 for vet bills and the fees charged by the cat clinic do not cover all the costs.
“We’ve worked hard and made networks and we’re respected as a model for a small town,” Glover said.
Larry Oelrich, director of public works and administrative services, said the proposed 2020 city budget includes money for a new position for about 28-29 hours per week to do the day-today maintenance at the animal pound and to help the police with animal calls.
This position will probably be called an animal control officer and be supervised by the police department, Oelrich said, adding the person most likely will get training for animal control services.
Friends of Prairie Grove Pound has been an asset to the city, Oelrich said.
“I can’t think of any comparable size town in Arkansas that has an animal operation like Prairie Grove does.”
The city has a No Kill pound because of the Friends’ organization, he said.
“It’s been pretty amazing what they’ve been able to do,” he said.